Dear Santa
"Dear Santa" doesn't earn a lump of coal, but it’s only deserving of socks and underwear.
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I’m a fan of the Farrelly brothers. I’m a fan of dad jokes. If anyone’s likely to dig the Farrelly’s dad joke-inspired “Dear Santa” (now streaming on Paramount+) it’d be me, but alas…
Liam Turner (Robert Timothy Smith) is the new kid at school. He’s a sixth grader who moved with his folks Molly (Brianne Howey) and Bill (Hayes MacArthur) after an initially unnamed family tragedy. Liam only has one friend named Gibby (Jaden Carson Baker) and a crush on Emma (Kai Cech), who already has a boyfriend in the jerky Aiden (Gavin Wesley Munn … do all of these dudes go by three names?!!!).
Liam is pretty childish in that he still believes in and writes Santa Claus a wish list. He also suffers from dyslexia and accidentally addresses the letter to Satan as opposed to Santa. The list makes its way to the Devil (Jack Black) who comes to Earth with an offer. He’ll grant Liam three wishes in exchange for his soul.
“Dear Santa” is directed by Bobby Farrelly from a script by Ricky Blitt, Dan Ewan and Peter Farrelly. It’s the first film the Farrelly brothers have worked on together in almost a decade after Peter’s attempts at prestige both successful (Best Picture-winner “Green Book”) and not (“The Greatest Beer Run Ever” – my review here). I really liked Bobby’s last movie “Champions” (my review here) and actively disliked Peter’s return to comedy “Ricky Stanicky” (my review here) from earlier this year. “Dear Santa” is nowhere near as good as “Champions” nor is it on the lowly level of “Stanicky.”
“Dear Santa” has a whole lot of heart. Liam is a great kid and Smith does a solid job of selling his goodness. The movie manipulatively moved me to tears, but it’s lacking in laughs. Black can’t help but to be funny at times, but the material is beneath him. I was amused that this is the second Santa-themed comedy in as many weeks after “Red One” to reference boba tea. (For the record – I preferred the earlier offering from Black’s “Jumanji” co-star Dwayne Johnson.) I was also tickled by the use of air quotes and a mention to walking 10,000 steps per day as these elements reminded me of a good buddy of mine.
What didn’t work as well for me were jokes about mental health (Keegan Michael Key turns up as a child psychiatrist) and learning disabilities (one character chastises another character for making fun of Liam’s dyslexia – it’s almost as if the movie is judging itself). Liam’s family’s tragedy is also ickily played for laughs in the film’s concluding joke.
I wouldn’t say “Dear Santa” earned a lump of coal, but it’s only deserving of socks and underwear.